With life being as unpredictable as it is, it is always best to operate with a never say never policy. With that in mind, I really don’t think anyone saw a Blink-182 reunion coming. With Tom Delonge having left the band behind to become an alien researcher and Mark & Travis continuing on with Matt Skiba in his absence.
But here we are. 20 years after their seminal self-titled album and 9 years after Delonge’s second departure from the band, a new Blink album featuring the classic lineup is here. One More Time…
I, like most people my age grew up in the era of Blink-182 and they were one of the first rock bands I really fell in love with. They remind me of summer days hanging out with friends & being dumb. It’s hard to categorise what they mean to today’s youth and culture, as it’s ever evolving and their specific brand of humour would simply not fly for most nowadays.
One More Time…veers into the more serious and focused aspects of Blink-182 as a band, feeling more like a companion piece to their self-titled or Neighborhoods albums. Long gone are the days of puerile humour, finding the trio in a more contemplative, appreciative place in their lives.
Not that they aren’t still cheeky enough to chuck some nostalgia at you right out of the gate with Anthem Part 3. It tees up the album nicely and welcomes you in with open arms. The singles from the album, of which there are many, vary in quality ranging from the heartbreaking title track through to the anthemic Dance With Me & Fell In Love to the regressive and easily disposable Edging.
There is a lot to unpack on this album, and it certainly feels like it will give more of itself over to the listener with repeated listens. Moments like Turpentine, Bad News and the aptly titled Blink Wave are highlights. We do get some skippable moments in the form of Fuck Face, Turn this off & Hurt (interlude) Which act more like skits than actual songs and feel like they have been put there to pad out the runtime.
It seems odd to call a Blink-182 album expansive, but this is nearly an hour long and 19 tracks. There are moments where it naturally does feel flabby and some of the filler could have been cut out, giving us a leaner more impactful album. With that said if this really is One More Time for the band then it’s not a bad closing chapter to their story. For those expecting the Blink of old you may be left a little bit disappointed, but there is still enough magic left in there to keep all fans of the band engaged.
Overall One More Time… is a much more mature, focused album from a band coming to terms with their own mortality and place in the world and is more about existentialism than excrement and for the most part it is all the better for it. I guess this is growing up after all.
One More Time is out now via Columbia Records
